GB1596168A

GB1596168A - Toy construction kits

Info

Publication number: GB1596168A
Application number: GB1807/78A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1977-01-27
Filing date: 1978-01-17
Publication date: 1981-08-19
Also published as: NL7713643A; AU505010B2; CH621486A5; US4171590A; AU3216978A; IT1090381B; FR2378541A1; FR2378541B1; DK568877A

Description

PATENT SPECIFICATION

( 21) Application No 1807/78 ( 22) Filed 17 Jan 1978 ( 31) Convention Application No 2 703 237 ( 32) Filed 27 Jan 1977 ( 31) Convention Application No 2 710 392 ( 32) Filed 10 March 1977 in ( 33) Fed Rep of Germany (DE) ( 44) Complete Specification published 19 Aug 1981 ( 51) INT CL 3 A 63 H 33/10 ( 52) Index at acceptance A 6 S 6 C 1 B 6 H 1 ( 54) IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO TOY CONSTRUCTION KITS ( 71) 1, ARTUR FISCHER, a German citizen, -f Weinhalde 34, D-7244 Waldachtal 3, (Tumlingen), Germany, do hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and

by the following statement:-

This invention relates to a toy construction kit.

The present invention provides a toy construction kit comprising a number of elongate building elements, each element being formed from injection-moulded plastics material, and having two longitudinally extending limbs, each limb being constituted by a flat plate and having a connecting means comprising throughgoing apertures enabling the element to be connected to other elements of the kit, wherein the two limbs are connected together at two longitudinal edges by a longitudinally extending web which is integrally formed with the limbs and which acts as a hinge between the limbs, and a number of prismatic toy building blocks, each side face of each block being provided with connection means enabling the building elements to be fastened thereto, wherein an elongate member having the same cross-sectional form as a block can be assembled from the kit using a block to fasten together a number of building elements, the number being the same as the number of side faces on the block, the web of each building element being arranged along a respective side edge of the block and each of the two limbs of that element lying in face-to-face relationship with a part of a respective one of the two side faces of the block defining that edge.

The injection-moulded web enables the two limbs of the building element to be brought into any angular position relative to one another Elongate members of various prismatic forms can therefore be constructed using the building elements in conjunction with the building blocks In particular various prisms of triangular section can be formed.

The present invention also provides a toy construction kit comprising a number of elongate building elements, each element being formed from injection-moulded plastics material, and having two longitudinally extending limbs, each limb being constituted by a flat plate and having connecting means comprisng through-going apertures enabling the element to be connected to other elements of the kit, wherein the two limbs are connected together at two longitudinal edges by a longitudinally extending web which is integrally formed with the limbs and which acts as a hinge between the limbs, and a number of prismatic toy building blocks, each side face of each block being provided with connection means enabling the building elements to be fastened thereto, wherein an elongate member having the same cross-sectional form as a block can be assembled from the kit using a block to fasten together, end-to-end, pairs of building elements, the webs of each pair of elements being arranged along a respective side edge of the block and a respective limb of each of those elements lying in face-toface relationship with a part of a respective one of the two side faces of the block defining that edge.

This construction enables elongate members of various prismatic forms and of any desired length to be constructed from the kit.

A toy construction kit constructed in accordance with the invention, will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:Fig 1 shows a load-bearing member which has been made up from a plurality of building elements of the kit, and Fig 2 shows a partly cut away front view of the load-bearing member illustrated in Fig 1.

Referring to the accompanying drawings ( 11) 1596168 2 L 596168 and especially to Fig 1, a load-bearing arm or mean 1 which may, for example, be used as the jib arm of a toy crane, a strut of a toy bridge, a toy mast or similar structure, is made up from a number of toy building elements 2 Each building element 2 is formed from injection-moulded plastics material and comprises two longitudinally extending limbs 4 a and 4 b which are joined by a longitudinally extending web 3 which is integrally formed with the limbs 4 a and 4 b and which serves as a hinge between the limbs The web 3 therefore enables the two arms to be pivotally moved relative to each other so that the angle between the two limbs can be varied from 00 to 3600.

As shown in Fig 1 the building elements have been secured together by a former in the form of a building block 11 to form a beam 1 which is prismatic in form and is of triangular cross-section (see Fig 2).

Each building element is secured to the block 11 so that its web 3 lies along a side edge of the block 11 and its limbs lie in faceto-face relationship with adjacent side faces of the block 11 which define that edge.

When a building element 2 has been arranged on the block 11 in this way, then it is fastened to the block by passing pegs or bolts 6 (see Fig 2) through circular apertures 7 in the limbs of the building element 2 and corresponding apertures 12 in the block 11 Each aperture 12 has diametrically opposed slot extensions.

Clearly, therefore, the cross-sectional shape or profile of the building block 11 will determine the profile of the finished loadbearing member 1 Almost any profile can be provided and, for example, the shape of the inner block can be square, rectangular, trapezoidal or virtually any polygonal form.

An extremely rigid and robust loadbearing member is formed since the limbs of each element 2 are brought into face-to-face relationship with the rigid side faces of the inner building block 11.

As shown in Fig 1 the building elements 2 have been joined only to one half of the length of the building block 11 The latter is provided with four apertures 12 which are arranged in pairs, each pair being associated with opposite end edges of the face in which they are formed As shown in Fig 2, one pair of apertures 12 of each face has been used to fasten in position the building elements 2 The remaining pairs of apertures.

which are formed, of course, on each side face of the building element 11, can be used to receive three further building elements so that they are joined end-to-end with the illustrated building block 11 serving to bridge the butt joints between the various elements 2 In this way, and using further blocks 11 and building elements 2 a beam of any desired length can be assembled.

To provide a smooth outer surface for the load-bearing member, so that it can be slid, for example, inside another load-bearing member, the head portion 13 of each peg or bolt 6 is flat and is arranged to fit into a countersunk portion 14 of each aperture 7 formed in the limbs of the building element 2 Further, to facilitate fixing of each peg or bolt 6, its head portion 13 is provided with a slot 15 for receiving a screwsriver or similar tool The end portion of each peg or bolt 6 is provided with lateral lug-like extensions so that the cross-section of that end portion of each peg is similar to the cross-sectional form of the apertures 12 The pegs can therefore be inserted through the slots 7 and apertures 12 and can then be held in position by rotating through, for example, 900 To form a closure at one end of the loadbearing member the end face of the building block 11 can be closed off by means of an end wall 17 The end wall 17 can be provided with an aperture 16 which allows cables, cords and the like to be passed through.

Clearly, a building block 11 which is used at the end of the load-bearing member and which is not used for joining together two sets of the building elements 2 in end-to-end relationship need only have one pair of the apertures 12 on each of its faces.

As mentioned previously, each building element 2 and its longitudinally extending web 3 is made from injection-moulded plastics material and it is preferred if the bolts 6 and the building blocks 11 are similarly formed from injection-moulded plastics material.

Claims

WHAT I CLAIM IS:-

1 A toy construction kit comprising a number of elongated building elements, each element being formed from injectionmoulded plastics material, and having two longitudinally extending limbs, each limb being constituted by a flat plate and having a connecting means comprising throughgoing apertures enabling the element to be connected to other elements of the kit, wherein the two limbs are connected together at two longitudinal edges by a longitudinally extending web which is integrally formed with the limbs and which acts as a hinge between the limbs, and a number of prismatic toy building blocks, each side face of each block being provided with connection means enabling the building elements to be fastened thereto, wherein an elongate member having the same cross-sectional form as a block can be assembled from the kit using a block to fasten together a number of building elements, the number being the same as the number of side faces on the block, the web I 1.596 168 1.596168 of each building element being arranged along a respective side edge of the block and each of the two limbs of that element lying in face-to-face relationship with a part of a respective one of the two side faces of the block defining that edge.

2 A toy construction kit comprising a number of elongate building elements, each element being formed from injectionmoulded plastics material, and having two longitudinally extending limibs, each limb being constituted by a flat plate and having a connecting means comprising throughgoing apertures enabling the element to be connected to other elements of the kit, wherein the two limbs are connected together at two longitudinal edges by a longitudinally extending web which is integrally formed with the limbs and which acts as a hinge between the limbs, and a number of prismatic toy building blocks, each side face of each block being provided with connection means enabling the building elements to be fastened thereto, wherein an elongate member having the same cross-sectional form as a block can be assembled from the kit using a block to fasten together, end-to-end, pairs of building elements, the webs of each pair of elements being arranged along a respective side edge of the block and a respective limb of each of those elements lying in face-toface relationship with a part of a respective one of the two side faces of the block defining that edge.

3 A toy construction kit as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, in which each building block is hollow.

4 A toy construction kit as claimed in claim 3, in which at least one end face of each building block is closed by an end wall having an aperture.

A toy construction kit as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3 or claim 4 when appendant to claim 2, in which each face of each building block is provided with four connecting means, the connecting means being arranged in pairs, one pair being associated with a respective one of two opposite end edges of that face.

6 A toy construction kit as claimed in any one of claims I to 5, in which each of the connection means of each block is in the form of an aperture, each aperture in the block being arranged to register with a respective aperture in the limb of a building element, a fastening means being insertable through the registered apertures to secure the block to the building element.

7 A toy construction kit as claimed in claim 5, in which each fastening means is in the form of a peg which has a flat head portion, the apertures in the limbs of the building elements being countersunk so that when a peg is inserted into an aperture in the building element the head lies flush with the surface of that limb.

8 A toy construction kit substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated by Figs I and 2 of the accompanying drawings.

ABEL & IMRAY, Chartered Patent Agents, Northumberland House, 303-306 High Holborn, London, WCIV 7 LH.

Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office by the Courier Press, Leamington Spa, 1981.

Published by the Patent Office, 25 Southampton Buildings, London, WC 2 A l AY, from which copies may be obtained.